This disclosure relates to a stop or lock for an IV (intravenous) pole stand that is mounted on wheels so that a nurse or other medical personnel may conveniently and quickly temporarily lock or otherwise hold the IV pole stand in place on the floor and to prevent the IV pole stand from falling over by stepping on a brake pad (or stop pad) so as to free both of the nurse's hands to change an IV bag, to adjust the flow rate of an IV liquid to a patient, to re-program an IV pump or the like supported on the IV pole stand, or to perform other operations involving the IV pole stand.
Typically, an IV pole stand, such as shown in FIG. 1, is used to support one or more IV bags (not shown in FIG. 1) of an IV liquid in an elevated position relative to the patient, where the IV bag is connected to a flexible IV tube and to an IV needle inserted into a patient's vein so that an IV liquid or a medication injected into the IV line may be intravenously administered to the patient. An IV pump may be mounted on the IV pole stand to administer the IV liquid to the patient at a predetermined rate. Oftentimes, it becomes necessary for a nurse to change a nearly empty IV bag for a new one, to inject a medication into the IV line, or to change the programming of the IV pump to administer the IV liquid to the patient at a different rate. Such operations typically require the nurse to use both hands to carry out such operations. However, because the IV pole stand is typically mounted on wheels and because the weight of IV bags or the weight of an IV pump is carried high on the pole stands, such pole stand are thus top heavy. As a result, it is often necessary that the IV pole stand be held by the nurse during such operations to prevent the IV stand from moving on its wheels and/or to prevent the IV pole stand from tipping or otherwise falling over. However, holding the IV pole in such situations is awkward because the nurse must use one hand to hold the IV pole and thus does not have both hands free to perform the desired operations or tasks. Also, because the poles of IV pole stands are used by numerous hospital personnel, the poles of such pole stands are often contaminated with bacteria such that after touching a pole, the hospital personnel should thoroughly was his or her hands before performing various operations including changing an IV bag, adjusting the infusion rate of an IV pump or injecting a medication into the IV line.
Various wheel or caster systems are known that may be used with IV pole stands where one or more of the wheels or casters supporting the IV pole stand may be provided with a foot operated brake that locks one wheel of the pole stand. However, the actuation and de-actuation of such foot operated brakes on one of the wheels and requires the nurse to find the wheel that is equipped with the brake, which takes time, especially since the pole stand may be supported on four or more wheels. Still further, even with the foot operated brake engaged, it still may be necessary for the nurse to hold the IV pole against falling over with one hand while performing the desired operation. It would be convenient if the nurse could engage and disengage a stop without having to actuate or de-actuate a locking device applied to the wheels. Moreover, it would be desirable if the actuation of a stop not only prevented the IV pole stand from moving on its wheels, but would also hold the pole stand from falling over.
It will be recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art that there are differences between IV pole stands because they are made by many different manufacturers, even though they may be of a similar design. For example, the diameter of the IV pole, the design of the base, and the number of wheels may differ significantly. Thus, it would be desirable if an IV pole brake or stop system were commercially available at low cost that could be rapidly installed on IV pole stands of different manufacturers that did not require the use of even simple hand tools to install, that could be rapidly removed from one IV pole stand and installed on another, that needed no modifications to an IV pole stand, that would effectively lock or hold the IV pole stand in place on the floor and would prevent tipping of a top heavy IV pole stand, and that could quickly release the IV pole stand so that it could be moved on its wheels.